Olaf Groth

Olaf Groth is a global strategist, founder, professor and author, helping leaders shape the future of organizations, industries and economies disrupted by AI, data and emerging tech amid geopolitics and geoeconomics

Groth has 28 years of experience as an executive and adviser building strategies, programs,  ventures and capabilities across 35+ countries with multinationals (e.g. AirTouch, Boeing, Chevron, GE, Qualcomm, Q-Cells, Vodafone, Volkswagen, etc.), consultancies, startups, foundations, governments and academia.

Groth is the founding CEO of analyst thinktank Cambrian Futures and of concept development firm Cambrian Labs. He serves as professional faculty for futures, strategy, tech innovation, and policy at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and honorary adjunct professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, teaching across the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Groth is a member at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global AI Governance Alliance (AIGA), its Global Expert Network and its Annual Meeting of New Champions (AMNC), as well as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley’s Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE). He is also an advisory board member at EchoTwin.ai.

Groth is lead co-author of “The Great Remobilization: Strategies & Designs for a Smarter Global Future” (MIT Press, 2023), “Solomon’s Code: Humanity in a World of Thinking Machines” (Pegasus, 2018) and its paperback version “The AI Generation” (2023).  He is a long standing guest commentator at CBS KPIX’s Business & Economics Talkback, and a frequent contributor at Fox News KTVU, ABC KGO and NPR in the US, as well as Deutsche Welle, ZDF and ARD in Germany.  He has written for media outlets like Wired, Financial Times, The Hill, Harvard Business Review (USA, Germany, France, Italia), California Management Review, Quartz, FOCUS, Die Zeit, World Economic Forum, Huffington Post, Peter Drucker Forum, Today’s CFO, Thunderbird International Business Review, World Financial Review, European Business Review, Roubini EconoMonitor, and Duke CE Dialogue.

Groth holds PhD & MALD degrees in international affairs with business, economics and technology concentration from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, MAIPS & BA degrees with economics focus from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

He studied negotiation at Harvard, trade economics at Georgetown, finance at Berkeley, and strategic leadership at the Center for Creative Leadership.

Groth has numerous teaching awards, international fellowships and six out of a total of 10 filed patents in AI and data management to his name.

(Photo by Lenovo L.N.I.T Headshots © 2021 by Yachin Parham licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

Expertise and Research Interests

Domains & Trends

• Future of Global Economy & Globalization 2.0
• AI & Emerging Tech (Autonomous Systems & Robotics; Quantum & Semiconductors; Blockchain & Crypto; NeuroTech & Brain-Machine Interfaces; AeroSpace & Defense Tech; Climate & Clean Tech)
• 4th Industrial Revolution & Smart Supply Chains
• Digital Property, Data Management & Data Markets
• GeoTech (tech in geopolitics & geoeconomics)
• Cybersecurity

Craft

• Scenario Planning, Futures & Foresight
• Corporate Strategy & Innovation Strategy
• Strategic Leadership & Strategy Execution
• Emerging Technology Management
• Ecosystem Mapping
• Organizational Transformation
• Tech Ethics & Governance Design